Regional Science
Centre, Bhubaneswar
A Brief History
Dr Jayanta Sthanapati
Regional Science Centre, Bhubaneswar
The present author of this narrative
was Project Coordinator of RSC during 1986-1990 and 1992-1994 and was the
leader of the team of officers and staff to establish science centres in
Bhubaneswar and Dhenkanal and a science park at Kapilas. These centres again
came under his supervision from 2004 to 2008, when he was Director of Birla
Industrial and Technological Museum (BITM), Kolkata.
The
NCSM was created in 1978 with previously established BITM, Kolkata and
Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum (VITM) Bangalore, and work for
two more projects Nehru Science Centre (NSC) Mumbai, and Srikrishna Science
Centre (SSC) Patna had started. NCSM after that opened its first District
Science Centre at Purulia, West Bengal in 1982. During early 1980s NCSM
initiated work to develop District Science Centres at Tirunelveli, Gulbarga,
Dharampur and Kohima. It was at that stage a request came to NCSM authorities
from the Government of Odisha to establish a science centre at Bhubaneswar, the
state capital.
In
the year 1984-85 Shri Kamakhya Prasad Singh Deo, Union Minister of State for
Cultural Affairs was the President NCSM, and Dr S. Varadarajan,
Director-General of CSIR was Chairman of the Governing Body of NCSM. With their
consent and support Dr Saroj Ghose, Director NCSM had initiated planning and
search for suitable land to establish State Level Science Centres in Lucknow,
Bhubaneswar, Nagpur and Guwahati. While Regional Science Centres in Lucknow and
Bhubaneswar were opened in 1989, RSC Nagpur and RSC Guwahati were made
operational a few years later in 1992 and 1994, respectively.
The Beginning
Shri
Gangadhar Mahapatra, Minister of Education and Youth Services, Govt. of Orissa
while addressing at the inaugural function of the 8th Eastern India Science
Fair, as a Guest of Honor at BITM, on 26th February 1982, had said that his
department would provide all necessary support to BITM or NCSM if they set up a
science museum in Odisha. Dr Saroj Ghose, Director NCSM gladly accepted the
offer. The present author, a Curator in NCSM (Hqrs) then, volunteered to
shoulder the responsibility to take up the job, and Dr Ghose immediately chose
him its project-in-charge.
Negotiation began with the Education
Department, and they committed to providing Rs 40 lakh and suitable land to set
up a state-level science centre. Soon we selected a plot of land measuring 8
acres adjacent to the Regional College of Education, near Acharya Vihar, but
unauthorised dwellers occupied it.
Although there was an initial delay in action, some generous IAS
officers resolved the issues soon. Shri S. K. Mahapatra, Secretary, Education,
took personal interest to release Rs 3 lakh in favour of NCSM in March 1984, as
an advance of the state’s share for the project. Further, due to the
intervention of Shri S.M. Patnaik, Secretary, General Administration, vacant
possession of 8 acres of land was given to NCSM in November 1984. Shri G.C. Patnaik,
Deputy Director and Dr N.P. Das, Reader in Science, both from SCERT, were of
great help in those initial years.
The site for RSC in late 1986
From early 1985, the science centre
project was coordinated by the Dept. of Science and Technology of Odisha
Government. Shri Pritiman Sarkar, Secretary and Dr S. Torasia, Director of the
Dept. helped us in all possible ways.
Project Took Shape
By the end of 1985, I had prepared the
master plan of RSC, under the guidance of Dr Ghose. The plan envisaged erection
of the main building, the creation of indoor galleries, development of science
park, horticulture plan, exhibition area, picnic corner, guest rooms etc. Shri
K.P. Singh Deo, President of NCSM, who used to take a keen interest in our
activities, approved the plan in a meeting at the site of RSC.
On 1st September 1986, I started work,
from a temporary shed at the site, with Shri Debashis Gupta, an education assistant;
Shri C. Sambasiva Rao, a junior engineer (civil); Shri P.K. Bagh, a clerk and
Shri R.K. Senapati, a horticulture assistant. A curator (Mechanical) Shri S.R.
Ganorkar, a team of eight technicians in the trades of the fitting, carpentry,
welding, electronics and painting, a section officer and a junior stenographer,
was also appointed soon. Shri G.C. Hazra, a civil engineer from NCSM, was
deputed to look after the construction of the building. Shri Ganorkar got a
transfer to NCSM (Hqrs) after about a year, and Shri Arijit Dutta Choudhury
another curator (Mechanical) from NSC Mumbai joined our team.
Regional Science Centre has one of the
most eye-catching buildings in Bhubaneswar. M/s Bose Brothers Architects,
Kolkata had designed the building in 1985 with four modules, each consisting of
two or three floors. However, in the first phase, we built only two blocks
covering a floor area of 3617 sq. Metres.
M/s Engineers’ Enterprise, Kolkata completed construction of the main
building by early 1988.
Inauguration of RSC
Shri Janaki Ballav Patnaik, Chief
Minister of Odisha, inaugurated Regional Science Centre on 18th September 1989,
in the presence of Smt Krishna Sahi, Union Minister of State, Dept. of Culture,
and three MPs from the state, Shri K.P. Singh Deo, Shri Giridhar Gamang and Smt
Jayanti Patnaik. Also present were Dr S.
Varadarajan, Chief Consultant of the Planning Commission and Chairman Governing
Body NCSM, Prof P.K. Jena, Director RRL Bhubaneswar, Prof T. Pradhan, Director
Institute of Physics, several high officials from NCSM and Govt. of Odisha, and
a large number of school children. The inauguration was a part of the
nationwide celebration of Birth Centenary of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. During the year, Sachivalaya Marg, the road
on which RSC was situated got renamed as Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Marg.
Inaugural Function of Regional Science Centre
Inauguration
of Regional Science Centre
Indoor Galleries
The Centre, since
its inauguration has four exhibition halls – one on the first floor of Block-I
and other three on three levels of Block-II.
We now describe the galleries that occupied these halls from time to
time.
The
Sun. The main
attraction of the centre at the time of inauguration was a unique gallery on
‘The Sun’. The present author had proposed the theme to Dr Saroj Ghose, the
then DG NCSM. On his approval, I prepared a detailed list of exhibits to occupy
the entrance hall of RSC. He gave a go-ahead signal. After that, I guided Shri T.K. Sarkar, an
Exhibition Assistant who came on an official tour from Kolkata to prepare a
dummy of the complete gallery with exhibits. Subsequently, Dr Ghose approved
the design during his visit to RSC. He asked me to present it before the newly
recruited Curators of NCSM, whose training was going on at that time at the
Central Research and Training Laboratory (CRTL) in Kolkata. With working and
participatory exhibits, the gallery explained and elucidated topics related to
the Universe, the Sun, the Earth and their bearing on human existence.
The exhibits provided answers to
various questions. How do the ideas about the Universe develop and who are the
pioneers? What is our address in the Universe? How big is the Sun, and our
planet Earth? How do we measure astronomical distance or solar temperature? How
does the Sun get energy? How do the planets orbit the Sun and satellites around
the planets? How are the stars born and
how they die? How do day and night, summer and winter, solar and lunar eclipses
happen? These exhibits were mostly
interactive, hands-on, and many utilised electronics and microprocessor control
circuits.
There were an idol of the Sun God and
a replica of the Sun Temple of Konark, created by a renowned stone-sculptor of
Bhubaneswar. The gallery had also
presented an impressive audio-visual show called ‘Space Odyssey’. Shri Arijit
Dutta Choudhury, Curator and his team of Technical Assistant, Exhibition
Assistant and technicians had fabricated all the exhibits of the Sun Gallery in
the RSC workshop. The CRTL had planned and fabricated
several exhibits for the Sun gallery that continued in the second hall to
depict how the Sun sustains life on Earth. The hall also accommodated a
Children’s Activity Corner – a carpeted oasis where young minds could fiddle
and explore various kits, games and puzzles.
Chief Minister and dignitaries in the Sun
Gallery
|
Sl. No. |
Name of the Gallery |
No. of Exhibits |
Year of Opening and Renovation |
|
1 |
The Sun |
48 |
1989 |
|
2 |
Sun Sustains life on Earth |
20 |
1989 |
|
3 |
Fun Science |
18 |
1989, 1999 |
|
4 |
Insects |
27 |
2000 |
|
5 |
Motion |
39 |
2004, 2014 |
|
6 |
Mathematics |
86 |
2006, 2015 |
|
7 |
Popular Science |
60 |
2009 |
|
8 |
Mirror Magic |
23 |
2018 |
Fun
Science. The gallery
opened in 1989 at the time of the inauguration of the centre was located at the
top floor of Block II. It contained
eighteen fully participatory exhibits supplied by CRTL Kolkata. The exhibits exuded fun while
spreading science education. Topics included gravitation, simple harmonic
motion, acoustics, optics, optical illusion, electricity, and magnetism. After
ten years RSC refurbished the exhibits and got the gallery inaugurated by Prof
G.C. Das, Vice-Chancellor, Utkal University on 18th September 1999.
Insects.
A semi-permanent gallery with live insects and animated panels were set
up BITM at the centre, which was inaugurated by Shri Naveen Patnaik, Chief
Minister of Odisha on 18th September 2000. The gallery, however, did
not survive long.
Motion. In 2004, Shri Ingit Mukherjee, the then Director-General NCSM
decided to interchange the exhibits of the Sun Gallery of RSC Bhubaneswar with
the exhibits of the Motion Gallery of RSC Tirupati, as both the galleries were
on display in respective places for many years. Thus, a refurbished gallery of
39 exhibits on ‘Motion’ came from RSC Tirupati.
The gallery gave a clear concept of motion and its all-pervading
presence in the universe. It was
inaugurated on 9th December 2004, by Shri R.N. Nanda, Minister, Science &
Technology, Govt. of Odisha. Later the
RSC created a new gallery on ‘Motion’ while celebrating its Silver Jubilee. The
gallery has exhibits to explain various types of motion, both perceptible and
imperceptible to human beings. There are a few exhibits which conceptually are
similar to some exhibits of the old Sun gallery and the old Motion galleries of
RSC. Shri Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister of Odisha, inaugurated the gallery on
23rd August 2014. Following are the major exhibits of the new gallery: The notion of motion and Konark Wheel,
Universe through time, Expanding Universe, Sun and its family, Movement of
Earth’s crust, Gravity well, Retrograde motion, Continental drift, Day &
Night, Seasons, Coriolis effect, Solar eclipse and lunar eclipse, Tornado,
Vortex, Bolus movement, Movement in joints, Blood Circulation, Wave motion,
Planetary motion, Chladni patterns, Projectile motion, Macro to micro,
Conversion of motion, Brownian motion, Atomic motion, and Newton’s laws of
motion.
A view of the Motion gallery
Exhibits on Newton’s Lawes of Motion
Mathematics.
A gallery on
‘Mathematics’ was inaugurated by Shri Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister of Orissa,
on 18th September 2006, coinciding with the 17th Anniversary of RSC. The
gallery of 86 exhibits aimed at unravelling the wonderful world of mathematics
and its application. The exhibits deal with arithmetic, algebra, trigonometry,
number theory, probability theory, topology, calculus, set theory, and so on. A
unique film on the ‘Life and Works of S. Ramanujan’ is also screened in the
gallery. Shri Indranil Sanyal, the Project Coordinator, had conceptualised the
gallery and developed thirty-two exhibits in the RSC workshop and Shri
Subhasish Das, a senior Curator, had developed remaining fifty-four exhibits
in BITM workshop. The gallery was
thoroughly renovated after nine years and was opened by Shri C.J. Venugopal,
Principal Secretary, Dept. of Science and Technology, Odisha on 18th September
2015.
Abacus – an interactive exhibit in Mathematics gallery
Head or Tail?
A film on Ramanujan screened in the Mathematics Gallery
Popular
Science. In 2008 the original Fun Science
gallery of the centre was enlarged into an extensive gallery of 60 exhibits and
renamed as ‘Popular Science’. It was relocated to the ground floor hall of
Block II of the centre. The CRTL, Kolkata had supplied most of the core
exhibits for the new gallery which
seeks to entertain and educate visitors with a philosophy of ‘Keep It Simple –
Make It Fun’. The gallery was formally inaugurated by Shri Ramesh Chandra
Majhi, Minister of Science, Technology and IT, Govt. of Odisha on 26th October
2009.
Mirror Magic. We
use mirrors in several ways in our daily life. We are also familiar with the
images that we see in mirrors. However, we get excited when we see some unusual
reflections in mirrors. These can be done by using mirrors aligned in
particular ways. The gallery is spread
over 150 sq. Metres and displays 23 interactive exhibits. It welcomes visitors
with a self-centred mirror. Some highly entertaining exhibits include titles
like Curving tunnel, Magic mirror, Mirage, All eyes on you, 3D Anamorphosis,
Fun mirrors, Elliptical mirror wall, Infinite train, and Bhul bhulaiya. Prof Ganeshi Lal, Governor of Odisha inaugurated the
gallery on 11th July 2018, in the presence of Prof. Ratnam V. Raja Kumar,
Director IIT Bhubaneswar and Prof Akshaya Kumar, Director Institute of
Mathematics and Application, Bhubaneswar.
Governor
of Odisha in Mirror Gallery
3D
Theatre. Like many other units of NCSM, RSC
Bhubaneswar too opened a 3D theatre in its premise for education and
entertainment of visitors. First such facility was inaugurated by Dr R.K.
Choudhury, Director, Institute of Physics Bhubaneswar on 22nd January 2005 and
the technically upgraded version was opened on 16th September 2017 by Shri
Badrinarayan Patra, Minister School, Mass Education, Science and Technology,
Govt of Odisha.
Sir
C.V. Raman in a globe sculpture
Outdoor Expositions
Science
Park. A Science Park
brings us close to hands-on exhibits, rides, colourful surroundings, live
tender pet animals and so on. The Science Park at RSC, Bhubaneswar was
inaugurated by Shri J.B. Patnaik, the then Chief Minister of Odisha, on the
occasion of the nationwide celebration of the ‘First National Science Day’, on
28th February 1987. It surrounded the main building under construction then and
accommodated 28 outdoor hands-on exhibits on motion, weightlessness,
conventional and non-conventional energy, optics, sound, oscillation, inertia,
and so on. At the time of the inauguration of RSC, the Science Park further
included three aviaries and a rabbit corner.
During the next three years, the centre installed 40 more new exhibits
in the park. It also developed a cacti corner, a picnic spot and a fairground.
After over twelve years the centre
thoroughly facelifted the science park in the foreground of the main building
and added several large interactive exhibits. The renovated facility was
inaugurated by Shri Pratap Jena, Minister School and Mass Education, Odisha on
24th December 2010. However, almost everything lying between the main building
and the Prehistoric Life enclave is in dilapidated conditions for many years.
The authorities of the centre now have plans to develop this vast run-down area
in phased manner.
The Garden of Fame, in the
science park, exhibits busts
of 8 eminent Indian Scientists, namely, Birbal Sahni, Chandrasekhar Venkata
Raman, Homi Jehangir Bhabha, Jagadis Chandra Bose, Meghnad Saha, Satyendra Nath
Bose, Srinivasa Ramanujan, and Vikram Ambalal Sarabhai.
Gear trains
Another exhibit in the Science Park
A
giant Magic Water Tap
Busts of Indian Scientists in the Garden of Fame
Prehistoric
Life Park. In early 2000, NCSM started opening prehistoric life parks in its units
with the display of a set of fibreglass scaled models of dinosaurs such as Baluchitherium – the largest land
mammal, Corythosaurus – helmet lizard, Dimetrodon grandis – two measures of
teeth, Gallimimus – rooster mimic, Glyptodon – carved tooth, Psittacosaurus –
parrot lizard, Scelidosaurus – limb lizard, Spinosaurus – spine lizard,
Stegosaurus – roof lizard, and Tyrannosaurus Rex – tyrant lizard King. Like RSCs at Tirupati and Nagpur, RSC
Bhubaneswar too had set up a prehistoric life park by using exhibits that came
from Science City, Kolkata. The enclave was inaugurated by Shri Naveen Patnaik,
Chief Minister Odisha on 18th September 2002. The presentation was further
elaborated and enriched by a ‘light and sound’ presentation on the
evolution of life on our planet in the geological time scale, such as, the
appearance of reptiles, dinosaurs, birds, mammals, Ice-age mammals, apes and
man, which is show-cased through 33 animated replicas and dioramas. The Park was inaugurated on 17th September
2007, on the eve of 18th Anniversary of RSC, by Shri Samir Dey, Minister,
Higher Education, Govt. of Odisha.
Mobile Science Exhibition
Museobus, a mobile science exhibition bus with
24 working and animated exhibits, on the theme 'Light & Sight' was pressed
into service by RSC on 28th February 1987. Shri Himanshu Sekhar Satpathy, a
young physics graduate, was the team leader of the MSE unit. Curators of RSC
have subsequently conceptualised and developed MSE units on themes Our Universe
(1992), Global Changes (2008), Mathematics (2011) and Electricity &
Magnetism (2012).
Mobile
Science Exhibition Bus
Pythagoras Theorem exhibit of the Mathematics unit
Play
with Dice – another MSE exhibit
Temporary Exhibitions
Since 1988
RSC has displayed twenty-two temporary exhibitions, each for a month or so, in
its premises for the benefit of visitors. Most of these exhibitions were
conceptualised and developed by CRTL and other national-level units of NCSM.
However, the RSC had developed a unique exhibition on ‘Life and Works of
Pathani Samanta’ in 1993. Shri Nikunja Bihari Sahu, an Education Assistant of
RSC conceptualised it. The exhibition used graphics, replicas and working
models to portray the life of the great astronomer and exhibited significant
instruments he created like, Mana Yantra, Chakra Yantra, Gola yantra,
Golarardha Yantra, Shanku (The Gnomon) etc. The exhibition was later installed
at the Pathani Samanta Planetarium in Bhubaneswar.
|
Sl. No. |
Title of the Temporary Exhibition |
Year |
|
1 |
25 Years of Space Photography |
1988 |
|
2 |
Life and Works of Prof. C V. Raman |
1989 |
|
3 |
Remote Sensing of the Earth |
1993 |
|
4 |
Pathani Samanta |
1993 |
|
5 |
Conservation of Lord Jagannath
Temple |
1993 |
|
6 |
Wildlife |
1997 |
|
7 |
RSC Bhubaneswar: A decade of service |
1999 |
|
8 |
Night Sky – The Art of Deep Space |
1999 |
|
9 |
Leelavati: Indian Women in Science |
2002 |
|
10 |
100 Years of Nobel Prize |
2002 |
|
11 |
NCSM 25 Years of Service the Nation |
2003 |
|
12 |
Human Genome and beyond |
2004 |
|
13 |
An Eye in the Sky |
2005 |
|
14 |
Exhibition on Network |
2007 |
|
15 |
Biodiversity: The Web of Life |
2008 |
|
16 |
A Century of Physics |
2008 |
|
17 |
Exhibition: Measuring our Planet |
2009 |
|
18 |
Save Ozone |
2010 |
|
19 |
Our Body-Guard |
2011 |
|
20 |
Laser |
2013 |
|
21 |
The History of Space Photography |
2014 |
|
22 |
Understanding the Universe’ |
2015 |
Educational Programmes
The centre organises various educational programs for general
visitors, students and teachers, such as, Sky observation, Taramandal
(inflatable dome planetarium) shows, 3D Film shows, Popular Lectures, Science
Demonstration Lectures, Public Demonstration Lectures, Science Magic Miracle
Shows, Teachers Training Programme, Creative Ability Centre, Science Quiz,
Vacation Hobby Programme, Science Seminar, Science Drama, Computer Fair
and Commemorative Events.
On 11th July 2018, RSC launched the
‘Innovation Hub’ to engage school and college students in innovative and
creative activities. The facility promotes their critical thinking and
problem-solving ability through hands-on activities and experiments.
Plantation of sapling on Environment Day 2019
Satellite Centres
Dhenkanal
Science Centre. The
Dhenkanal Science Centre (DSC) came to being, materialising a lot of people’s
dreams to see the second science centre in Odisha. The promulgation of this
idea was however done in 1992 by Shri Kamakhya Prasad Singh Deo, MP from
Dhenkanal. The success of RSC Bhubaneswar had delighted him as he had helped
its establishment in various ways. He was thus keen on having a science
centre in his constituency, for the benefit of the public. He presented his plan
before the then Chief Minister, Shri Biju Patnaik and requested him to allocate
a 5-acre land free of cost and provide a matching grant of rupees forty lakhs
for the proposed science centre. The Government of Odisha considered the
proposal favourably and approached the Government of India to establish a
science centre at Dhenkanal by engaging the NCSM. Consent from all the
collaborators arrived soon. Dr Saroj Ghose DG NCSM declared me as project head
and decided that the science centre will be set up by the RSC Bhubaneswar with
catalytic support from NCSM.
Dhenkanal Science Centre
On 6th July 1992, RSC Bhubaneswar and
the DST Govt. of Odisha, jointly organised a program at the site for DSC,
Dhenkanal. Present on occasion were Shri Arjun Singh, Union Minister for Human
Resource Development, and Shri Biju Patnaik, Chief Minister of Odisha. While
Shri K.P. Singh Deo, MP, Dhenkanal presided over the function, Shri Arjun Singh
performed the ‘Bhumi Puja’- the groundbreaking ceremony. Dr Saroj Ghose, DG
NCSM presented before the VIPs the plan of the science centre. A Mobile Science
Exhibition unit on ‘Our Universe’, was flagged off on that day. The MSE was
later shifted to B.B. School to hold a special exhibition for two days which
coincided with the centenary celebration of the school.
An
exhibition at the site of Dhenkanal Science Centre
Soon after that NCSM engaged Architect
firm A.G. Consultants, Kolkata and Civil Contractor Bridge & Roof from
Kolkata as well for creating the main building of DSC. The construction,
however, began in early 1993. Shri Indranil Sanyal, a Curator, joined as
Project Coordinator in Dhenkanal, and Shri Subhasish Sarkar, Technical
Assistant (Civil) supervised the
civil construction work. Only after eighteen months, the land transformed into
a beautiful science campus overlooking the town. Built on a hilltop with
rolling meadows the DSC is a centre of activity with a house of galleries and
science park for the visitors.
At RSC Bhubaneswar, Shri Nataraj
Dasgupta, Curator had developed all the indoor exhibits. He was assisted by
Shri Apurba B. Biswas, Technical Assistant (Electronics), Shri Tapan K. Sarkar,
Exhibition Assistant, and a team of ten technicians. We received all the
outdoor exhibits from the Nehru Science Centre. Shri Himangshu Sekhar Satpathy,
Education Assistant, was transferred from RSC Bhubaneswar to DSC to set up
facilities to conduct educational programmes.
An
exhibit on Optical Illusion
The galleries at the Science Centre
had exhibits on themes like physical science, life science and Earth Science,
and occupied an approximate area of 700 sq. Metres. Here the visitors could engage them in a
host of activities – have fun with mirrors, play musical instruments, take part
in a competition with a human skeleton while riding a bicycle, etc. The gallery
further explained the reason behind hot air balloon movements, rolling balls
performing acrobatics, parabolic reflectors carrying a human whisper
long-distance, nights changing into days, one season changing into another and
so on. The visitors could further watch chicks hatching out of eggs, lizards
camouflaged in nature, birds in their habitats and life system in an eco-pool.
Holding a live snake
The science park adjacent to the DSC
building displayed thirty interactive exhibits, namely, A Seesaw is a Lever, A
Swing is a Pendulum, Acrobatic Ball, Action and Reaction, Archimedes Screw,
Bird in a Cage, Check Your Weight, Double Cone Runs Uphill, Echo Tube, Ellipse
Tracing, Gear Train, Gravity Well, Guess the Length, Inclined Planes, Lever
Reduces Effort (Types I, II, III), Lift Yourself, Minimum Time Path, Musical
Bars, Perspective Drawing, Pulley Drive, Pulleys Lifts Load, Roller Coaster,
Rotation and Oscillation, Simple Camera, Swing a Quintal, Sympathetic Swing,
Whispering Garden, and Worm Wheel.
Kapilas Science Park. RSC Bhubaneswar on behalf of NCSM had developed a full-fledged
Science Park at Kapilas, twenty-two kilometres away from Dhenkanal town, at the
foothill of Kapilas hill. Spread over 4.8 acres of land it is one of the most
beautiful science parks in the country. The Government of Odisha had provided
the ground and financial support for creating the science park. In 1992, I had
prepared the master plan of the science park, which got approval from DG NCSM.
Since then, I had supervised the entire project. Shri Subhasish Sarkar,
Technical Assistant (Civil) looked after the construction of the main building
along with all essential facilities, development of pathways, and installation
of exhibits that came from NSC Mumbai. We had engaged Shri B.R. Das, a
horticulturist from Cuttack for the plantation and rearing of trees, shrubs,
and hedges in the entire plot as per our plan. Shri N. Dasgupta, Curator, RSC
Bhubaneswar and his team of technicians made all the exhibits functional. The
science park had forty-four interactive exhibits – including the thirty
exhibited at DSC and twelve additional exhibits, namely, Combination Lock, Compound Pendulum,
Grid Line, Lissajous Figures, Mobius Band, Non-Circular Wheels, Perception of
Depth, Rolling and Sliding, Trace a Pattern, Turn Faster, Variable Pendulum,
Velocity & Acceleration, Weightlessness, and World Minus Colours. Kapilas science park
also had environmental and ecological corners with
botanical specimens, pet animals and birds.
The boy tries to roll a non-circular
wheel
Dinosaur
models in the Park
Children taking rest under a shed in the science park
By late 1994, both Dhenkanal Science Centre and Kapilas Science
Park were ready for an opening to visitors. NCSM had approached VIPs to
dedicate these facilities to the people of Dhenkanal on a specific day. But
suddenly the dates of Assembly Election for 1995 in Odisha was declared, and as
a result, the plan was dropped indefinitely.
Later the inauguration of both the
facilities were aptly done on World Environment Day on 5th June 1995 by Shri
Madhavrao Scindia, Union Minister for Human Resource Development in the presence
of Shri K. P. Singh Deo, Union Minister
for Information & Broadcasting and Dr Saroj Ghose, DG NCSM.
Financial Outlay
NCSM completed the RSC in 1989 by an
expenditure of Rs 85 lakh, out of which the State Govt contributed Rs 40 lakh.
Initially, the project was under Plan for three years. The graphs show Plan
expenditure (new exhibitions, facilities etc.) and Non-plan expenditure
(salary, electricity, contingency etc.) made by NCSM for RSC from 1987-88 to
2018-19. The centre’s non-plan expenses increased every year during
the said period. The plan expenditure, however, differed considerably depending
on the new 
projects taken up by the centre.
The footfall of visitors in RSC
For
over two and a half years after the opening of the Science Park on
28th February 1987, the centre allowed free entry to the visitors from 3:00 pm
to 5:30 pm every day. RSC noted visitors attendance only from 1st April 1988
onwards. The
record shows that during the past thirty years the RSC received 49,96,760
visitors, or in other words, it was seen by 1,66,559 visitors per year. It had
the lowest footfall of 1,06,149 in 1999-2000. The visitors' count
reached its peak to 238244 in 2012-13 but decreased every year since then. The
table gives a break-up of visitors to the centre and also the visitors to the
centre’s outreach programmes during 214-2019.
Visitors’ Statistics (2014-2019)
|
Year |
Visitor to Centre |
Outreach Visitors |
Total Visitors |
|
2014-15 |
226,046 |
212,221 |
438267 |
|
2015-16 |
222,043 |
145,817 |
367860 |
|
2016-17 |
207,657 |
251,693 |
459,350 |
|
2017-18 |
180,074 |
148,597 |
328,671 |
|
2018-19 |
175,774 |
95,730 |
271,504 |
Men behind the scene
Right from its opening, the centre has
taken great care to keep its exhibits safe and in perfect condition. If
knowledge is priceless, then it should have an equally good container to keep
it. That is made sure by Birla Industrial and Technological Museum from 18th
September 1989 to 31 March 2019, and after that by Central Research and
Training Laboratory, NCSM under whom RSC Bhubaneswar has been functioning for
thirty years.
RSC Bhubaneswar got continued guidance
and administrative support from BITM Directors, Shri Samar Bagchi (1986-91),
Shri Samaresh Goswamy (1991-2004), Dr Jayanta Sthanapati (2004-08), Sk Emdadul
Islam (2008-18) and Shri V.S. Ramachandran (2018-19). It now functions under
the control of Shri Shrikant P. Pathak,
Director, CRTL.
The credit of achieving continued
excellence for thirty years goes to the science centre’s past and present
Project Coordinators, Technical staff, and administrative staff. The RSC was
headed by Dr Jayanta Sthanapati (1986-90, 1991-95), Shri Arijit Dutta Choudhury
(1990-91), Dr C Sukumaran (1995-2004), Shri Indranil Sanyal (2004-08), Shrimati
Archana Khosla (2008-17), and Shri Amit Kumar Mandal in (2018) the past. Shri
Haraprasad Mishra is the current Project Coordinator of the Centre.
Acknowledgement
The author is thankful to Shri Arijit
Dutta Choudhury, Director-General NCSM and Shri Shrikant P Pathak, Director
CRTL for their in their interest in bringing out this publication. He likes to
thank Shri V.S. Ramachandran, Director BITM and Shri H.P. Mishra, PC RSC too
for the support they gave for production of the souvenir.
About the Author
Dr Jayanta Sthanapati started his
service career in BITM, under NCSM, as a Curator in 1978 and retired as Deputy
Director General, NCSM in 2011. He had also served as Director NCSM
(Headquarters) and Director BITM. He holds a PhD (Physics) degree from the
University of Calcutta and a PhD (History) degree from Jadavpur University.
Note
Reprinted from ‘Regional
Science Centre Bhubaneswar: 1989-2019’ published by National Council of Science
Museums (2019) 10-25.
